A young artist hungers to draw you.
A dinner conversation takes three lifetimes to finish.
A geologist faces a planet-sized, eons-old puzzle to save her crew.
The hero of the Fall of Earth must choose between love and revenge.
A mysterious dancer leads a businessman to a most exclusive nightclub.
A man is born each day into a new life—only to die each night.
A sentient aurora threatens the last of humanity.
A Norse god’s bar in Toronto hosts an unplanned family reunion.
A woman descends into insanity—or is it the end of the world?
A house as big as the world.

Chimerascope was my first full collection of short fiction, containing sixteen of my best stories, including an Aurora Award winner, a Best New Horror selection, and eight Aurora finalists. Sixteen stories of fantasy and science fiction that take you from love in fourteenth-century Japan to humanity’s last stand, from virtual reality to the end of reality, from alien drug addictions to a dinner where a man loses everything.

Genre:

Science fiction, Fantasy, Urban fantasy, Horror, Surreal

Reviews:

"A massively enjoyable trek through the far-fetched, the horrifying, and the flat-out weird, all filtered through Smith's remarkable imagination and prodigious talent. ... Chimerascope is a sterling set, with nary a weak or disposable entry. Smith's writing, evocative yet understated, gracefully brings to life his imagined realms." —Quill and Quire, *Starred Review*

"Showcases the inventive mind and immense storytelling talent of one of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction. ...Smith writes with a keen eye for detail and atmosphere, crafting each story with wit and perception. ...will appeal to fans of such literary sf writers such as Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe." —Library Journal

"A gifted writer in the genre of science-fiction. … Smith paints his worlds so well that you are transported within a paragraph or two and remain in transit until the short story ends." —Broken Pencil, The Magazine of Zine Culture and the Independent Arts

"[An] engaging and entertaining volume, pieces of whose content resonate after the book is finished." —Booklist, Apr 2010

"Chimerascope confirms for me what Impossibilia affirmed, namely that Douglas Smith is an extraordinary author whom every lover of quality speculative fiction should read. Rating: A+" — Fantasy Book Critic

"[Chimerascope] speaks volumes of his range and future potential. ... Smith is definitely an author who deserves to be more widely read." —Strange Horizons

"A beautifully diverse selection of short tales that runs the full spectrum of the speculative genres. The tales are well-crafted, easily digestible; several of the stories are incredibly moving and stick with the reader long after." — 2011 Sunburst Award jury

"A superb collection... Spanning a wide spectrum of classic sci-fi, stories inspired by mythology, and post-apocalyptic fiction, this is a collection you’ll want to own and re-read. ... It’s a complex mix: one of the many reasons this collection succeeds so powerfully." —Ideomancer Magazine

"An absolutely stunning short story collection of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, one of the best I've ever read." —Corey Redekop, award-winning author